Summary:

Gabriela arrives home just in time before a sudden downpour. Her family then shares the news of a dinner party they are invited to for tomorrow night.

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Written in both Gabriela's and Bruno's POV.

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"I'm home!" I managed to get to the casa before the weather outside changed, the strong wind slamming the door behind me shut. Mamá's head pops out the entryway as I take off my shoes to change into house slippers. I'm amazed but puzzled that she doesn't seem fazed by the sudden hurricane outside.

"Ay, Gabriela, you got home just in time! We were about to start dinner without you." I follow her to the dining room, where Julián and Papá are already seated at the table.

"What took you so long, Gabriela?" Papá asks as I take my place next to my brother. "Did you get sidetracked with the deliveries?"

I'm confused for a moment before I realize it as the cover story given to them to explain my disappearance. "Uh…yeah. I couldn't figure out one of the addresses." I lie. I glance over to Julián who's too busy focusing on his tamales. Oh, gracias, mi increíble hermano, for making such a convincing story.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I sit there, zoning out, while they talked about something I'm not quite listening to. I'm glad no one can read my thoughts because I keep thinking about what happened earlier by the river. How long had he been standing there?I thought I was alone. There was something about the way he looked at me that sent shivers up my spine. And he was awkward as hell.

Gracias a Dios, I'm glad I wasn't fully naked…but did he still see something? I shake my head and hold my breath. ¡Vete, mala suerte!

Papá suddenly clears his throat, and I nearly jump out of my seat. My brother looks at me funny. I ignore him.

Act natural, Gabriela. You're alright. You're safe. Do not think about that creepy man by the river. My hand is shaking so hard that I almost dropped my spoon into my bowl of locro.

"Is everything alright, mija?" Mamá asks. I stare at her, my eyes so wide as I gulp down my glass of water and nod furiously. Relax.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine." A beat and a pause. Silence. I realize they're waiting for me to answer something. "Lo siento...what are we talking about again?"

Papá raises an eyebrow at me but thankfully doesn't press further about my odd behavior.

"They're asking if you have any plans tomorrow night," Julián says, smirking.

I don't like the way he's looking at me. "None. Why?"

"Well…I'll repeat it since you didn't hear it the first time." Papá makes a disapproving sound. I chuckle nervously. I have something else on my mind at the moment. "We've been invited by the Madrigals for dinner tomorrow night."

"Excuse me? Who's asking us to dinner?"

Julián looks at me as if I've been hit by a burro. "Seriously? You don't know the Madrigals, even if you could read minds?"

"Julián…" Papá says in a warning tone. "You know your hermana wasn't given a blessing like that to eavesdrop on people."

Julián lowers his voice down. "Lo siento, pá. But you know what I mean, right? I'm just saying…it's a miracle that Gabriela hasn't heard anything about them from the people in town."

"Wait, wait, wait." My head is spinning. I'm always too distracted to even read people's minds for juicy gossip, so I'm clueless here. "Can someone please tell me who the Madrigals are? And why you're all stressing out over this…dinner party?"

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"A party?" I ask Mamá over the chatter at the dinner table. Everyone's excited about having someone famous over tomorrow, except me. I think I have a clue why.

I could be wrong though.

She nods. "Si, Brunito, It's our way of welcoming them to our community."

"A dinner party. Really." I deadpan. These people must be important for Mamá to throw all the stops.

Mamá just hums. "Si."

"A dinner party…tomorrow night?"

"Tío, how many times will you ask Abuela?" Mi sobrina, Isabela, pipes up.

Julieta shakes her head at her daughter and chides. "Isa, you know you cannot talk to your Tío like that." Isabela lowers her lashes at me and mumbles a "sorry".

I shrug at my sister. "It's okay Julieta, she's just curious. She means nothing wrong with it," I say and give her a wink. Isabela cheers up immediately and giggles.

"Ay, Brunito, you spoil the children too much." Mamá shakes her head at me but smiles. She has a soft spot for Isabela given she's the first grandchild, so I know she's not angry, just amused. "You know, your Tío is asking because he wants to make sure. He's not always comfortable with having a lot of people over in our home."

I turn beet red. "I'm plenty comfortable with people, Má."

Pepa suddenly laughs at that remark. "Right. You fainted when a lot of people were over for Dolores' christening." I kick her under the table and she sticks her tongue at me, the cloud over her head threatening to strike a lightning bolt at me. Julieta gives us both a stern look.

"Ay Mamá, speaking of which, who are the guests we're inviting over tomorrow?" Agustín thankfully says something, distracting Mamá from seeing a potential sibling squabble at the table. "Félix and I are planning some sort of entertainment."

"Oh, it's La Encantadora Mirabella and her family…I think?" Dolores, my other sobrina, pipes up before anyone else could answer.

Pepa turns her attention away from me to look at her daughter and sighs. " Mi pequeña niña, were you eavesdropping on us again?"

Dolores' eyes go wide as she makes a tiny squeak. She proceeds to ignore her mother's question by stuffing an arepa into her mouth so she doesn't have to answer.

Pepa sits there staring at her daughter, dumbfounded. It begins to hail at the table.

"Pepa, you're raining hail." Mamá sighs.

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"Let me get this straight," I summarize the information my family just shared. "We're invited by the Madrigals, the most respected family in town…over for dinner."

"That's the gist of it, yes," Mamá says. "I guess the news about me being La Encantadora Mirabella spread faster than I thought."

I shrug. "I think it's impossible in such a small town to avoid gossip. But how did they even extend that invitation? Did they send a letter or something?"

Julián shakes his head. "No, their whole familia visited the store earlier to personally invite us."

I didn't expect that. "Wow. The whole family? That must be a sight to see."

"It was like a parade. If I recall correctly, I think it's Señora Madrigal, her children with their spouses, and her grandchildren that came by. You should've seen how people suddenly parted to give way."

"Well, not all of them were there." Mamá reminded Julián. I look over to Papá who hasn't said a word since they caught me up to speed. He looks tense.

Julián sits up straighter, the mischievous grin back on his face. "Oh, right. I forgot about that. The Señora mentioned that her children are triplets. They're about your age, maybe a few years older."

"Okay?" I give Julián a quizzical look. He's being weird. "What's with that grin on your face?"

Papá looks like he's going to keel over at any moment. Mamá just blushes. Julián's practically shaking trying to keep himself from laughing.

"...oh," I say when it finally dawns on me. I shake my head at him. "Óye, you said they came by the store with their respective spouses? Are you pushing a married man at me?"

Julián's composure breaks and he roars into laughter. "Only the two daughters of the Señora are married, hermana. Looks like their brother is still on the market."

Papá suddenly does a spit take, surprising us. We all turn to look at him.

"Mi amor, what's gotten into you?" Mamá asks, fussing.

Papá shakes his head, chuckling nervously. "Lo siento, mi vida, the soup's a little too hot." A poor explanation, but Mamá doesn't question it. We all know he doesn't do well with boy talk. He's probably anxious about me meeting the Madrigals tomorrow. It's highly unlikely that I'll be interested with the Señora's son though. Maybe I'll become a hermit.

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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):

Tamales - a type of corn or corn/rice "cakes", wrapped in plantain tree leaves and steamed. Almost every region in Colombia has its own variation.
Gracias, mi increíble hermano- Thank you, my amazing brother
Gracias a Dios - Thank God
Vete, mala suerte- Go away, bad luck
Locro - a corn, beans, zapallo (squash) and potato stew from the Nariño region of Colombia.
Burro- donkey
Tío- uncle
Abuela- grandmother/grandma
Mi sobrina- my niece
Mi pequeña niña- my little girl
Familia- family